This image of the Lunar Straight Wall or Rupes Recta in Mare Nubium was captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. While the feature can be seen through binoculars, a backyard telescope will reveal more detail. (Adapted from NASA LRO) Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of October 6th, 2024 by…
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This image of the North American Nebula was captured in 2018 near Thornbury, Ontario by my friend Sailu Nemana. Several of the surrounding bright stars and star clusters within it are highlighted. The Pelican Nebula (at right) is formed by the dark dust of LDN 935. The re/pink colour is produced by ionized hydrogen gas.…
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The globular cluster NGC 6934 in Delphinus as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. It is also known as Caldwell 47. This image covers about 3 arc-minutes of the sky, or 1/10th of the full moon’s diameter. (Wikipedia) Hello, Autumn Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 22nd, 2024 by Chris…
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The bright rays that surround the small bright crater Proclus are missing to the left of the two yellow lines, evidence that the Proclus impactor arrived at a shallow angle from that direction and tossed debris in front of it, partly onto dark Mare Crisium. This feature on the moon is easy to see in…
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This Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image shows the major features of Mare Imbrium “the Sea of Rains”, including its eastern ring of mountain ranges, the dark crater Plato, the “islands” in the north, Archimedes, partially submerged ghost craters, and subtle wrinkles. NASA Hello, September Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of September 8th,…
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The Cygnus Loop, also known as the Eastern and Western Veil Nebulae, are a gigantic remnant of a supernova in the southern wing of the Swan that spans more than five full moon diameters. It is visible in binoculars under very dark skies every summer. The bright star at right named 52 Cygni that the…
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This gorgeous image of the Omega Nebula aka the Swan Nebula and Messier 17 in Sagittarius was captured at the Texas Star Party by Trevor Jones. I have rotated it by 90 degrees to better show the swan shape at centre. The image width is double the size of the full moon. The emission nebula…
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My friend Andrea Girones of Ottawa captured and processed this spectacular view of the sun’s complete disk while attending the annual Starfest gathering on August 7, 2024. It beautifully captures the sun’s convection cell pattern, the dark elongated filaments and the prominences they become when viewed in profile around the sun’s limb (especially at right),…
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Hello, mid-August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 11th, 2024 by Chris Vaughan. Feel free to pass this along to your friends and send me your comments, questions, and suggested topics. You can also follow me on Twitter as @astrogeoguy! Unless otherwise noted, all times are expressed in Eastern Time.…
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This composite image of Perseid Meteors streaking across the Milky Way was captured by Ali Hosseini Nezhad from Shiraz, Iran in 2023. The three bright stars of the Summer Triangle asterism frame the galaxy. NASA APOD for August 24, 2023 Hello, August Stargazers! Here are your Astronomy Skylights for the week of August 4th, 2024…
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